


Under the Big Top

by lightning_girl



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Modern AU, circus AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-03-24 17:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3776848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightning_girl/pseuds/lightning_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern day circus AU. Peggy and Thompson are put undercover in a circus to try and figure out a weapons smuggling ring that is using the circus as a front. Angie isn't that good at staying out of other peoples business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Chance and a.... Camel?

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so this started out as a cute little one-shot of Peggy and Angie working at a circus together, and somehow became a plan for a multi-chapter fic with some angst thrown in for good measure. I don't even know.

With a groan Peggy Carter rolled onto her side and glared at her ringing cell phone for a long moment before finally giving a heavy sigh and picking it up without looking at the contact, “Hello?”

The rough tone of the voice on the other end of the line caused her to roll her eyes, “Carter. There's been a break in that weapons sales case, we need you in. Now.”

She sat up straight in bed, the chief never called her in. Ever. Literally never. If he was calling her in at, she glanced at the digital clock on her night stand, 2 in the morning something big must be going down. Something that meant she would be fetching coffee and acting like the entire offices secretary for the rest of the night, “I'll be there in 15 minutes sir.”

While being the go-for girl was not her life goal, she wasn't about to pass up a chance to prove herself. After all you pick up a lot of useful info while moving desk to desk around the office. This could be a chance for her to show Dooley and the guys around the office that she was useful as more than someone to send on mundane errands.

With a quickly rushed through routine, but stopping long enough to put on her signature red lipstick, Peggy was out the door with a gun strapped to her thigh, briefcase in hand, and her hair in a sloppy bun.

The navy color of her dress would have allowed her to walk in the shadows and avoid the less than wanted stares that were thrown her way at this time of night by the drunks still on the street, if she had cared enough to avoid them. As it was though she was only a few blocks away from the phone and internet company that was a cover for her real job in the SSR when she felt a hand slide around her waist.

Her foot quickly stomped down on her assailant's foot while she grabbed the wrist settled on her hip and used it to pull the man over her shoulder, throwing him to the ground. She had her gun pinned on him before she recognized the blond coif of her coworker, Jack Thompson, “Bloody hell Thompson. You can't just walk up to a woman and assault her like that!”

Still groaning on the ground Thompson glared at her, “I think I was the one just assaulted Marge!”

With a roll of her eyes she continued on her way to the office, not really caring if he was hurt or not. Thompson was easily the most annoying man in the office. He liked to treat her as if she was some fragile housewife, and not a heavily decorated member of the military, and a fellow agent. And he called her Marge.

“Carter hold up!” the blond yelled behind her.

She threw a glance over her shoulder, but didn't slow her pace.

Thompson jogged to catch up to her, the pompous coif of his hair falling apart sending pieces trailing down his forehead, “What are you doing out here? Chief didn't call you in, did he?”

Huffing Peggy pulled the strap on her briefcase farther up her shoulder. He really had some nerve, implying that the chief would never call her in, as if she wasn't just as vital as he was, “As a matter of fact he did.”

Rounding the corner they saw another agent, Daniel Sousa, opening the door to the supposed phone and internet company.

“Sousa too. This must be big,” Thompson said.

Peggy couldn't help but agree with a small hum.

After they had walked up to the hidden offices on the 4th floor they found a large group of people already gathered in the conference room. Thompson slid into his usual seat at the right of the chiefs chair while Peggy stood by the back wall, positioning herself so that she would be able to see everyone in the room, and so that they could see her should she speak.

Dooley walked into the room, his tie and the first two buttons of his shirt undone, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked tired, weary. The large group immediately quieted and gave him their full attention as he threw a large stack of files on the table, motioning for them to be passed around the room.

Once everyone had a file he started, “As you should all be aware we have been trying to crack into a weapons smuggling ring for a few months now. We received a piece of info from an anonymous source pointing us towards a circus, of all fucking things. Now obviously the circus is just a front and we want to be able to trace it farther back, so we're sending in a couple of you undercover.”

He paused and a few murmurs broke out around the room while Dooley looked around appraising each agent, “Thompson I'm sending you in. Start thinkin' of an act that's convincing.”

This time his pause was longer and he pinched the bridge of his nose as if what he was about to say was giving him a headache, “Carter you too.”

Immediately Thompson started to complain, “Come on! Anyone but her chief!”

Peggy squared her shoulders, “Excuse me Agent Thompson?”

The misogynist looked down the table at her, “You heard me Marge.”

Just as she opened her mouth to remind him of what had just happened outside Dooley stood up, “It's gotta be Carter. We need someone who can get close to the women in camp, and that is not an invitation for a joke Thompson,” he added on when he saw the twinkle in the blonds eyes.

A large part of her was offended that the only reason she was getting the mission was because she was the only woman agent in the office, but she tried to ignore it. Instead she choose to focus on the fact that she was finally going to be able to prove herself. She knew that pulling this mission off would be a turning point for her in the office.

“Sousa. I'm gonna have you be the liaison. Keep your distance, but stay close enough to be of assistance if they call you in,” the chief said while looking into his empty coffee mug, “Thompson head down to the research division they'll help you come up with an act. Carter you'll just be his girlfriend or wife or something”

That caused both Peggy and Thompson to protest, “You can not possibly expect me to-”

“Chief, no way!”

Dooley's head fell onto the back of his chair, his eyes closed, “What do you suggest then?”

Thompson screwed up his brow in deep thought while Peggy just rolled her eyes, tired of men thinking she couldn't do anything.

“Let me set up my own act sir. I'm a pretty good shot. I can throw knives. I'm sure I can make an act out of that.”

Dooley looked up, obviously unsure, “Carter I can't just send you in there and trust that you can pull that off.”

Thompson cocked an eyebrow and looked back at Peggy before gleefully suggesting, “Why not have her prove her skills chief?”

Trying hard not to walk over and punch that smug grin, a grin that clearly said how little he thought of her shooting and knife throwing skills, Peggy looked to the chief and said, “I'll see you in the shooting range in 10 minutes.”

She turned on her heel and marched out the door with her head held high. It was ridiculous that she would have to prove her skills in person, her file had both of these skills listed, and she had scored perfectly on the shooting test required to even join the SSR. Not that any of that mattered apparently.

Making a quick stop in the armory Peggy armed herself with a rifle and a set of throwing knives to go with her trusty Walther PPK, before heading down to the shooting range in the basement.

While she waited she set up her guns, checking the sights to make sure everything was good, and laid out the knives, testing their weight in her hands. With a satisfied nod of her head she placed 6 paper targets up at various distances, and 3 of the solid dummies up for the knives.

She sat on the bench that stretched along the wall behind the stalls and crossed her legs, prepared to wait for the chief.

Finally half an hour later he, and an annoyingly large group of agents, walked into the room. A few scoffed at the set up she had, after all some of them knew they couldn't make a few of the awkward angled shots Peggy had set up for herself.

She stood, smoothed out her skirt, and positioned herself in the middle stall and loaded the guns slowly while asking, “Would you prefer head or heart shots chief Dooley?”

That caused even more scoffing from the agents, only Sousa looking on with a kind smile of encouragement as Peggy turned around to look questioningly at the chief.

Dooley considered her for a moment, unsure if her cockiness was founded in truth or was being faked, “Are you sure about this Carter? It's not to late to back out.”

Except Peggy knew it was. If she backed out now there was no way anyone in the office would ever take her seriously, “I'm quite sure sir. Now heart or head shots?”

Dooley considered her for a few more moments before shrugging and replying, “Lets see some head shots Carter.”

With a small smirk Peggy turned and grabbed the rifle, which she had loaded with 3 rounds, firing them off in quick succession, each hit their intended target, one near the back, and two in the middle, she grabbed her Walther PPK and hit the other three targets, the two closest and the one farthest, before setting it aside and quickly grabbing the knives and throwing them so that 2 stuck out of the head of each dummy, practically touching each other.

Still smirking she turned around to see all the agents jaws dropped and their eyes big, even Dooley, who was a bit more composed, looked surprised. Sousa was laughing and accepting cash from a few of the other agents, apparently he had bet she could do it.

“I can reset and do it while moving if you'd like sir.”

Shaking his head Dooley turned to leave with a muttered, “Head to research and get briefed Carter.”

Sousa hung back while she packed up the guns and walked back with her, “I feel like I should give you a cut. I really cleaned up back there.”

Letting out a small laugh Peggy asked, “How could you know I would succeed?”

“I didn't. That's why they call it gambling.”

Returning the gun and knives Peggy and Sousa headed over to the research division, to find Thompson flirting away with one of the ladies sitting behind a computer.

Daniel settled into a chair, stretching out his prosthetic leg in front of him, “So Carter is going to do something with sharp shooting and knife throwing, what have you come up with Thompson?”

“Managed to convince chief then huh Marge?”

Peggy settled into a chair of her own, throwing a glare towards her new partner, “Don't make me flip you onto your arse twice in one night.”

Thompson glared before he reached to the side of the desk he was perched on next to the researcher he had been flirting with, he turned around and presented them with an absurdly large set of fake weights, “I'm going to be a strong man. The circus just lost theirs so I'll be filling a slot for them.”

Looking over to the researcher Peggy asked in a much kinder voice than the one she had been using with Thompson, “Do they have any sort of sharp shooting or knife throwing act?”

The girl seemed to relax a bit once she noticed the no nonsense voice was one she only seemed to use on the man perched on her desk, something she was obviously not completely comfortable with. She shook her head no, and then glanced at Thompson.

Pushing a rolling chair across to him with a swift kick of her foot the Englishwoman looked pointedly at the chair and then at Thompson, who with a roll of his eyes plopped down into it.

They spent the rest of the night, and several pots worth of coffee, going over their covers, planning signals, and Sousa trying to get his fellow agents to get along.

“Alright. So we're going to be cousins. Carter here just moved to the states, and the circus I was with didn't have room for her so I left. Now we're looking for a new place to start up our acts. Right?” Thompson recited.

It had taken them a solid half hour to pin down the nature of the relationship they were going to have to pull off. Everyone agreed that a romantic relationship was off the table without a doubt. Them going in separate would seem a little odd though, particularly since they would need to interact to relay information. Friendship might have worked, but with Peggy's accent they decided that having them related might be the best route, and since they obviously weren't siblings cousins would have to do.

“Right,” the researcher, who had revealed her name to be Rose, said, “Now I've got cell phones here for both of you, all the numbers for your references, should the owner of the circus, a Mrs. Fry, ask for them, lead back here where I will do a bit of voice modification and give you glowing reviews. Should you need to get a hold of Agent Sousa just call here and I can connect you to him.”

She turned to her computer and pulled up her agency email, “And it looks like a the wardrobes for both of you is finished and the car is waiting for you to pull out on the road. Any questions?” she asked, turning in her chair and looking only to Peggy.

The two had quickly become friends throughout the night, which seemed to annoy Thompson.

With a shake of her head Peggy stood and stretched out her sore muscles, “Ready hit the road cuz?” she asked in a purposely poor American accent.

Rolling his eyes Thompson got to his feet, and lead the way out of the room before Sousa threw him a quick reminder, “Don't forget to check in this time!”

With that Thompson was gone and Peggy had a cocked eyebrow as she looked at Sousa, “This time?”

“Last time he forgot. Almost sent in a team to retrieve him before I, uh, figured out what was keeping him,” he finished lamely, looking anywhere but at Peggy, a blush on his cheeks.

“What was he- Oh! He didn't? On a mission?”

Daniel just shrugged before making his way to let the chief know the plan and get the go ahead.

XXX

A town over, Angie Martinelli was pounding the last stake into the ground for her tent. Finally getting it all the way in with a huff she straightened and looked around at the half up camp.

While circuses may not be the stage she had originally wanted to end up on, she had to admit she loved it. Being surrounded by people with just as much passion as she had was thrilling.

She walked through the camp, helping pound in stakes and push up tent poles when asked. When she finally made it to her destination she was happy to see that Colleen hadn't finished up with the animals yet, “Hey there Doc! Need a hand?”

The camps vet looked up with a small smile, “Thanks Angie, would you mind taking the dogs on a quick walk? This town has leash laws so I can't just let them out.”

Giving a quick nod she scooped up the leashes on the ground next to the vet, who was brushing out a camel, and headed over to the kennels.

Walking 6 rambunctious dogs at once is not the easiest thing in the world. It becomes even harder when said dogs spot someone they have never seen before.

Before she even knew what was going on Angie felt herself being pulled over to her left and found herself half running half stumbling behind the dogs while she hollered for them to stop. Which of course didn't happen until they found what they were running to. The sudden lack of momentum from the dogs caused Angie to hit the ground with a loud thump, and when she rolled onto her back and looked up she was certain she had to of hit her head, because the woman looking down at her was certainly not a member of the circus, and that accent. She had no idea what the woman was saying but she knew she wanted her to never stop.

It was only the obvious concern in the woman's eyes that got her to ask, “What?”

With a small chuckle the woman extended her hand, which Angie happily took, and repeated herself, “I asked if you're okay?”

A bright pink blush rose in the performers cheeks as she realized her first interaction with this woman was her falling flat on her face. She quickly dropped the woman's hand and stumbled over her words while looking at the ground, “I'm fine. Um. Thanks. But uh. Are you lost? I've never seen ya 'round, and I know everyone here.”

Angie hadn't even noticed the man at the woman's side, and looked up quickly at him as he started to speak, from the look on the Englishwoman's face she wasn't exactly happy at him taking the lead, “Hopefully that's about to change. I don't suppose you could point us in the way of the owner of this circus, pretty lady?”

Angie had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the man, “Sure can. Follow me. You're in luck, Fry only talks business before sundown.”

“Thank you,” the woman said with a small smile.

 


	2. Flying Knives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge shout out to my new beta writingcello! You're awesome!

Peggy scanned the camp as she and Thompson were lead to Mrs. Fry's tent near the center of the group. She took mental notes of people that  seemed grouped together, watched to see who carried a weapon, and recognized some of the convicts whose files they had gone through the night before. 

The woman leading them stopped outside a blue and green stripped tent and was about to pull the flap aside before she turned around with a slap to her forehead, “Where are my manners? My ma would slap me up side the head! My name's Angie,” she said, sticking out her hand. 

The smile that spread across her face was impossible to contain as Peggy took Angie's hand, “Margaret, but you can call me Peggy.”

“Yeah sure thing, English,” she replied with a wink before looking to the other agent. “And you?”

Thompson puffed out his chest, “The name’s Jack.”

Angie let out a small hum of acknowledgment before thrusting the leashes for the dogs into his hands and putting up one finger to say 'just wait a second' before slipping into the tent. 

The agents stood in an awkward silence, listening to the low murmurs inside the tent. Peggy strained her ears to pick up the conversation, but only managed to catch an odd word here and there, none of which seemed out of the ordinary. Jack struggled with the dogs, trying to get them to behave. 

The bubbly performer exited the tent and held the flap open for them with an over exaggerated flourish of her arm and a large smile, “The Lady of the Misfits will see you now!”

A small smile on her face, Peggy entered the tent with Thompson right behind her, handing off the leashes with glee. She felt the flap flutter close, and was a bit disappointed that the bright woman hadn't stayed, particularly when she saw the stern woman sitting behind the immaculate desk in the center of the tent. 

She looked at them over her glasses, and from her expression, she obviously wasn't impressed. Apparently, the faded jeans and black tee shirt combo Thompson had chosen wasn't what she felt was appropriate attire. She seemed to like Peggy's choice of a spring green knee length skirt and off white linen shirt a bit more, though not by much. 

“Ms. Martinelli tells me you are looking to possibly stay. There are not a lot of people looking to join the circus these days, so what exactly is going though your minds?” she asked in a crisp voice. 

Again, Thompson took the lead, “Well ma’am, you see we've both been circus folk for awhile now. My cousin here, Peggy, just moved over here to the States. My circus didn't have any room for her so I decided to leave and we'd find some place together. Heard a rumor you were looking for a new strong man, so we figured we'd stop by and see if the rumors were correct.”

Mrs. Fry looked over to Peggy giving her an appraising look, “Just moved to the States? Where from?”

“England, ma'am.”

The older woman gave her a tight smile, it didn't quite reach her eyes, “Welcome. What exactly is your act then?”

A slightly cocky grin overtook her face as she pulled the hem of her shirt up, revealing the holster holding a few throwing knives. She pulled one out of the sheath and spun it easily around in her fingers, “I throw knives, and I'm a sharp shooter.”

Mrs. Fry watched the twirling knife, almost as if expecting it to fall out of rotation, before clearing her throat, “Well, obviously I'm going to need to see both of your acts before I make any decisions, but I do have openings for both acts. If you both would like to bring your props to the big top, I'll meet you there in half an hour to evaluate you.” 

With that, she looked back down to the papers on her desk, making a few notations. They took that as a sign to leave, and found Angie sitting on a stump with her legs crossed and without the dogs. She bounced up fluidly and asked, “So how'd it go, English?”

Peggy found herself liking the new nickname more and more. “She wants to see our acts, which is fair. But I'm pretty confident.”

Nodding her head, Angie fell into step with the pair as they made their way to the car they had left at the edge of camp, near to where the woman had fallen on her face. “With legs like them I'm guessing you're a tight rope walker?”

That brought a loud laugh out Peggy who quickly shook her head, “Oh gosh no. I'm afraid I'm not nearly as graceful as I seem. If we're basing it purely on legs, though, I'd guess  _you're_ the tight rope walker.”

Angie looked to the ground, “Nah. I wanna, but no one will teach me.” She looked back up with a smirk, “I'm a contortionist.” 

With a gulp, Peggy tore her eyes away from the woman, trying to hide her blush. Just in time for Thompson to cut into the conversation.

“Well I'd sure like to see that,” he said with a smirk, and his eyebrows moving up and down suggestively. 

Angie's jaw dropped and she looked back and forth between the two agents, taking Peggy's annoyed look to confirm her suspicions, “Are you hitting on me right in front of your girl?”

The supposed couple shared a shudder in response. Thompson threw in a gagging sound for good measure, while Peggy rolled her eyes.

Then with a sharp discharge of air Peggy replied, “I'm not his girl. In fact that would be rather sick, seeing as we’re cousins.”

“Oh,” Angie replied, looking between the pair. As hard as she tried, she couldn't see any family resemblance. She shrugged it off, figuring they were probably just not related by blood. “My cousin Ralphie and I used to get confused as a couple all the time. Real annoying. We finally just stopped going to the movies together.”

The contortionist watched as the 'cousins' grabbed their props out of the clunker of a car the SSR had put together for them. Peggy slung a bag over her shoulder and then grabbed the other end of the box that held Thompson's props. 

Angie lead them through the winding camp to the big top, talking the entire way, pointing out the other performers and explaining their parts. Her animated hands and voice kept the pair entertained. Peggy felt herself becoming very fond of the woman, she could only hope that Angie wasn't somehow involved in the weapons ring. 

“Well here ya are! Good luck, English!” Angie said with a wave as she turned to walk back into the camp. 

The pair walked into the large tent and set about setting up the props that had been packed. From her bag, Peggy took out a few dowels and screwed them into the corresponding tops to create 4 small platforms, on which she placed fake fruit in descending order of size, starting with a watermelon and ending in a small apple. She then placed four paper targets up in a row. From the box, she grabbed a BB gun, while not what she would prefer to shoot it was far more legal, and loaded it. 

“You mind if I go first, Carter?”

“Not in the slightest. It'll give you a chance to put one of these on after you're done,” she said, throwing him a bag full of silly hats. 

They propped the box up on its side, revealing the various targets painted on the inside of the lid. 

Just as they finished setting up, Mrs. Fry, along with some of the performers, came into the tent and took a seat. Peggy noticed Angie sitting near the front next to a blonde woman with a small monkey on her shoulder. Angie gave her a small wave and then a pair of thumbs up, which made the Englishwoman smile before standing off to the side to let Thompson do his thing. 

The key to Thompson's act was a mixture of truth and deceit. Sure most of the weights he picked up and threw around were actually foam, but he also did some audience participation. Angie hopped down from her place in the bleachers and stood where he pointed, then he leaned down and easily lifted her onto his shoulder with his hand wrapped around her shins so that she sat on him, his other hand holding the fake 1000 LBS dumbbells. 

Mrs. Fry took a few notes but didn't say anything as he took his bow. There was a small smattering of applause. It was a good act, not great, but it wasn’t as though he did this  professionally in his real life. 

Peggy stepped forward and pulled out one of her knives, the BB gun strapped to her back. Her fingers twirled the knife expertly as she explained what she was about to do with it. Then, in quick succession, she threw four of her knives, all of them sinking into their respective pieces of fruit. She slipped the gun off her back and asked the audience for a four letter word, any word. 

Words poured in from the audience, some less appropriate than others. She picked out Angie's voice in the crowd and picked her word and started shooting at the targets, soon the targets spelled out 'HOME' in big letters from the small holes caused by the BB's. 

She turned to see Thompson already against the box positioned so that all 6 targets were in view, and with a hat with an apple on it on his head. His eyes looked a little panicked, which made Peggy smirk. Walking over to the fruit that already had knives embedded in them, she yanked them free one by one, building the tension in the audience, before positioning herself about 15 feet away from the box. She hit each of the 6 targets dead center, making Thompson sweat a bit when she left the one between his legs for last. Finally she brought the BB gun back to her shoulder and shot the apple, making it explode in a puff of cotton. 

Thompson let out a breath and then gave a small bow, while Peggy gave a much more exaggerated bow. The audience of performers was quite for a moment before they broke out in applause. Peggy was proud of how much they had liked her act, and couldn't help but notice that Angie was cheering the loudest. Even Mrs. Fry looked impressed. 

With a motion of her hand the older woman got the crowd to disperse, Angie shooting them an encouraging smile. 

Once they were alone she started in, “Mr. Thompson that was a little lack luster, but I can see good bones. We can incorporate a few clowns into your act, make it funny, that should keep the kids entertained. As for you, Ms. Carter, I have no notes, very good. Now camp rules are, no men and women will share a tent unless they are married. Everyone helps out with chores, we can get those figured out tomorrow. If you'd accompany me back to my tent we can discuss payment and rooming.”

XXX

Later that night Peggy sat in what would be her tent for the duration of the mission. Her roommate, it turned out, was the woman she had seen with Angie, the blonde with the monkey. 

“You can call me Colleen,” the blonde said after Mrs. Fry left to show Thompson to his tent. “I'm the circus vet. Not quite as cool as throwing knives, but important.”

Settling into her cot, Peggy considered the vet. She had strong hands and a kind voice. No obvious weapons were on her person, and she didn't look like she was much of a fighter. Though of course, looks didn't have much to do with it, so Peggy didn't underestimate the girl. After all  _she_ didn't look like much of a fighter until her fist hit your face. 

“I'm Peggy. And honestly, knife throwing just looks cool, not very useful over all,” _unless of course your real line of work is as a spy_ , “At least not in the way that being a vet is.”

Colleen laughed and perched onto her own cot. Her smile was warm, her eyes bright. She had an air about her that made it easy to talk, easy to laugh.

The agent easily steered the conversation in a way that would afford her the most knowledge about her new roommate. She learned that Colleen had finished vet school three years ago, and had tried working in a more traditional practice for a few months, but just never really settled into it. When the circus had come to town, she found herself in the perfect position to be of service when the old vet had disappeared on a binge drinking bout at a local bar. Mrs. Fry had quickly taken to the young blonde and asked her if she would be interested in taking the job over. Colleen had jumped at the chance and had been with the circus ever since. 

Before Colleen was able to inquire about what had lead Peggy to join the circus, Angie popped her head in the tent. Her smile when she saw Peggy was infectious and she couldn't help but smile back. Colleen looked between the two girls with a knowing grin and cocked an eyebrow in Angie's direction. The light pink blush that spread along her cheeks was enough for Colleen to understand exactly what was going on. 

“I was just coming to let Doc know, and guess now you too, English, that dinner is ready.”

As the contortionist ducked out of the tent to head and tell the rest of the camp, Colleen let out a giggle and looked over to Peggy, “While her nicknames may not be the most original she only gives them to people she really likes. You must have made a good first impression.”

The new roommates walked to the dinning area together, and Colleen walked Peggy though the routine and picked a table off to the side for them. Peggy positioned herself so that her back was to the edge of the group and she could watch everything going on. She saw Thompson standing in line talking with a short, dark haired man with a mustache.

The mustachioed man and Thompson, along with a taller dark haired man came over and joined them. She quickly learned that the shorter man was the Master of Ceremonies for the circus, Howard Stark. He seemed a bit smarmy for her taste, but he was entertaining. The taller gentleman was his assistant, Edwin Jarvis, his English accent bringing a smile to her face. 

“It's nice to find a kindred spirit in the mix, Mr. Jarvis,” Peggy commented upon being introduced.

The man gave a small smile, “Likewise Ms. Carter.”

From there the conversation flowed easily. Her original suspicions about Howard were quickly confirmed as he hit on every woman who crossed his path it seemed. Peggy managed to quickly get him to leave her alone with a few twirls of the fork in her hand. Jarvis was quiet, but when he did speak that dry English humor gave a nice contrast to his loud boss. 

Just as she had taken a rather large bite of a roll, stuffing it into the right side of her mouth as she chewed, Angie pulled up a chair to the end of the table and plopped down beside her with an exhausted groan. “I'm pretty sure I'm growing roots I've been on my feet so long! Doc, you sure you don't want to rejoin the kitchen staff?”

Giving the younger girl a look of amusement and a shake of her head, Colleen replied, “I'd much rather spend my time tending to the animals, thank you very much.”

“Fiiiiiiine,” Angie said with an over exaggerated sigh, slumping down into her seat with a pout. She turned and looked toward Peggy and a grin spread slowly across her face and she sat back up, an almost evil glint in her eye, “But we do have some fresh meat now. Have you been assigned a role yet English?”

If she had been in a cartoon Peggy knew her eyes would have been the size of dinner plates, “No. But I'm absolute rubbish in the kitchen, unless it involves a microwave, and even then sometimes it leads to quite a bit of smoke.

The bright laugh that followed her comment gave her a bit of pride, but Angie wasn't about to back down. “So we keep you away from the fire, got it. Although I bet you can't be as bad as my cousin Vinnie's wife. I swear she could burn water just by looking at it!” 

As the women talked and laughed Peggy managed to pay attention to the men while they continued on with their own conversation. Thompson, while an arse, really was a good agent. He maneuvered Stark into talking about how he had gotten pulled into this world. Apparently his parents had both been performers, and while he wasn't good on a tight rope like his mother, and didn't fancy being a clown like his father, he still felt pulled to be a part of this world. The circus really was his family it seemed. 

Jarvis had come to the states with his wife five years prior. While his wife had decided to stay home, Jarvis came to help out during the summer months, he didn't say it directly but Peggy guessed he owed something to Stark. 

Angie moved from one topic to the next with simple transitions, barely giving the other two women time to keep up. Colleen smiled at her fondly, almost as if she was a little sister, as she rambled on and on about life back in New York, and things she wanted to add to her act. Peggy could feel a blush rise in her cheeks as the young woman talked about some of the shapes she could twist her body into, and others that she was going to try. She was thankful Thompson was caught up in the Stark conversation and not paying much mind to Angie, she could only imagine the things that would leave his mouth.

XXX

Climbing into bed that night Peggy ran though her mental check list of everyone she had met that day. She was afforded a bit of privacy while Colleen stayed out late to go check on the animals. 

Colleen seemed nice enough. Very smart, very capable. She didn't seem dangerous though. Peggy decided to keep a light eye on her, but overall she wasn't to worried that the blonde was a weapons smuggler, after all how does one go from vet to weapons smuggler?

Mrs. Fry was the obvious choice, but from the way the older woman looked around at her performers, with a sharp eye that still looked like it cared, she had her doubts. Definitely one to keep an eye on though. 

Howard Stark was a smarmy player that was for sure, but he didn't give her an air of deceit. At least not in a 'I'm committing a felony' kind of way. She'd have Sousa run a background check on him to confirm his story though. 

The thought of Jarvis being the dealer didn't really add up. If he was only here in the summer months then at the very least he wasn't working alone. Howard of course could be his accomplice. 

Then there was Angie. The bright New Yorker with a big smile and even bigger dreams. Peggy almost refused to think it could be her, but that wouldn't be prudent to her job. She knew more about the younger girl than she did about anyone else in camp, even more than she knew about Thompson she was pretty sure. She knew she couldn't let her guard down around the girl though and resolved to keep a close watch on her. After all she did seem to know everyone in the camp best, even better than Mrs. Fry. If she wasn't her perpetrator she could at least prove useful.

 


	3. Sleuthing and Straw

The next morning Angie walked through the camp long before everyone else was awake, heading to start some coffee for herself and the rest of the camp kitchen workers. She found a good strong cup of coffee made the mornings in the kitchen far more pleasant, plus it gave her a chance to watch the sun rise.

She enjoyed the quiet of the morning, before the rest of the camp would wake. There was something nice about getting to walk through camp alone, only the sound of rope creaking in the light wind and the chattering of the animals to keep her company. In some ways, this was Angie's favorite part of the day, almost on par with seeing an audience get to their feet.

What she didn't expect, was to run into someone else this early in the morning. Particularly not a sweat soaked brunette stretching at the edge of camp. Angie wasn't usually one to stare, but in her sleep deprived state she really couldn't be held responsible for the way her eyes were glued to the Englishwoman's defined calves. Nor would she ever admit to staring at the obvious back muscles stretching under a bright red tee shirt, nope, not even under torture would she admit to that.

“Mornin', English!” Angie said in her chirpiest voice, tearing her eyes up to a more appropriate height.

With a small jump, Peggy turned around, her fists raised for just a moment before she registered Angie. As she dropped out of the slight fight stance, a sheepish smile over took her features, “Good morning, Angie. I'm afraid you startled me, I didn't expect anyone else to be up for another hour or so.”

“Most won't be. But I've gotta start some coffee for the breakfast crew, which by the way, Fry agreed to put you on!”

Peggy let out a groan,“I assure you, that is not a good idea. The last time I tried to cook a proper breakfast, my flat ended up smelling like burned eggs for a week.”

Instead of replying, Angie just pushed past the brunette with a big smile, and continued on her way, giving a quick shout over her shoulder, “See ya in 15, English!”

Once the coffee really got going, the rest of her crew started to trickle in. Angie greeted each of them with a bright smile and a cup of black coffee before they took up their respective stations. Finally, Peggy showed up, changed into a less sweat soaked blue sundress. The older woman looked almost afraid as she approached the outdoor cooking set up, her eyes getting particularly big when she noticed the eggs that no one had started.

She accepted the cup of coffee with obvious pleasure, taking a long swallow and giving a quiet moan of satisfaction into the beverage. After one more small sip, she looked up at Angie expectantly, raising an eyebrow when she didn't respond.

It took her a moment but Angie eventually realized Peggy was looking to her for instructions, “Oh! Um. Why don't you help Gloria over on fruit? Nothin' for you to burn there, English. Plus we already know you're good with a knife!”

Thus their mornings were started, Peggy following Gloria's instructions on what fruit to cut and how to arrange it, Angie jumping from station to station as needed, keeping everyone in caffeine and being an extra pair of hands.

Angie made a point of keeping an eye on the newbie, stopping by their station more than was strictly necessary. She moved fluidly from helping flip pancakes, to whisking eggs, to making sure the big coffee pots were percolating and heating properly.

The last tray was settled into place on its warmer just as people started to trickle in, piling their plates and settling into the makeshift dining hall.

Angie found herself in line next to Peggy, totally by accident, and lead her to a table. She laughed at the way the woman immediately shoved half a pancake in her mouth and seemed to move it all off to the right side of her mouth.

Through half a mouth full of food, Peggy responded to her laugh, “What? I'm hungry!”

Looking pointedly at the brunettes cheek, Angie tried to keep from rolling her eyes, “Hungry or a chipmunk, English?”

Angie watched as Peggy swiped her tongue along the inside of her cheek, clearing out the food there, and oh gosh that should be a crime. No person should be allowed to look that _hot_ while clearing food out of their mouth, it wasn’t even a little bit okay.

Crossing her legs under the table, she made sure to look at her own plate for a few moments while she willed her heart to slow back to a normal pace.

XXX

Across the camp Thompson was rolling out of bed, relieved to see Stark had already made his way to breakfast. This would be the perfect opportunity to do just a little bit of poking around in his new roommates side of the tent.

He ran his hand through his hair and looked around, the mustachioed man was not the most organized person. They had only been there for one night and yet the man had somehow already managed to have half his belongings strewn over his side of the tent, creeping over into Thompson's territory.

Sighing, he pulled on a white tee shirt and got to work.

The blond picked through the discarded clothing, pushed aside half used boxes of condoms, and finally unearthed a lock box, carefully hidden under a false bottom in the mans trunk. Jack quickly took a picture on his phone as he heard Stark shout out a good morning to someone a few tents away, and then hurried back to his bed.

XXX

Peggy spent her day getting ready for that nights performance, while also picking up as much as she could from her fellow performers.

She learned a bit more about the clowns, nothing too alarming. There was Gloria, her fruit cutting partner, who was only there for the summer before heading back to college. Sarah, who was a mute and very sweet, always there to give a hand to someone in need. A very tall woman named Dottie was far too bubbly for Peggy's taste, and seemed a bit daft. Overall, none were a big threat by her estimate.

Going into her opening night, Peggy was still without a lead suspect, and hadn't had much of a chance to speak in private with Thompson about it. She might not particularly like the man, but he was a good detective, maybe the men of the circus had given him more to go on.

These thoughts swirled in her head as she sat a way from the big top, waiting until it was closer to her act before heading over. All around her performers milled about in various states of costumes, props were strewn around in seemingly random ways, and the red and blue striped tent to her back glowed with light. The air smelled like stale popcorn and over sweet confectionery creations. She could hear the roar of the crowd as they laughed at some joke Stark had made, the whoosh of her knife as she spun it around her finger, the creaking of wooden bleachers straining under the audience, it all blended together until it became background noise to the thumping of her heart. She focused on that sound, her eyes closed, centering herself on that steady beating in her chest, clearing her mind and letting it all go for just a moment. Sometimes just letting go and stepping back, even for just a literal second, was all she needed to look at a case in a new light, to have that one element click into place.

Maybe everything would have clicked. but at the exact moment she had decided to shut out the rest of the world the blonde with the never ending smile plopped down onto the bench next to her with a, “Hey there, English!”

Peggy opened her right eye and looked over to the side, a small smile tugging at her lips, her voice teasing as she replied, “Can't you see I'm focusing?”

Angie giggled, and Peggy felt that flash of pride she got every time the younger girl showed any sort of enjoyment at her dry humor. She gave a dramatic sigh before finally opening both eyes, “Well now you've gone and done it, how am I supposed to drown out all the sound around me with that going on?”

That managed to shut Angie up, for a moment at least, while she tried to look sheepish, but it didn't last long. Slowly she broke down and was left clutching her side as a full belly laugh blossomed from her. Peggy did her best to keep a serious face for as long as possible before joining the girl in laughter. Thankfully, they were far enough away from the big top that they didn't have to try and keep to quite.

As the laughter died down, Angie nudged her shoulder into the brunette, “Jitters?”

“Not as bad as you'd think,” Peggy replied. In truth, she did have quite a few worries, but none of them were about the act. Her act was passable, not high on the list of things to worry about. At least not when compared to the idea of figuring out a hidden weapons smuggling ring. There was also the thought that if she screwed all of this up her coworkers would never respect her. No of all the things on her plate, performing was the one thing not giving her jitters.

The look Angie gave her made Peggy know she didn't believe her, but thankfully she didn't push it.

“Just wanted to check up on the newbie! Anyway I should go get stretched out. Break a leg!” Angie said with a wink as she popped off the bench and walked away. Peggy would swear on her badge that she put an extra sway in her hips as she walked away.

She was half tempted to follow the girl and offer to help, but it was probably inappropriate, considering she was investigating the girl and all. Instead she looked at her phone and saw she still had about half an hour before she was due inside the big top, plenty of time to poke around the empty camp and see if she could find anything suspicious.

Her biggest suspect being Mrs. Fry, she decided to start there. She slipped through the shadows of the empty camp, her tread light and her ears sharp. Sliding into the tent she used her phone as a flashlight, going through the drawers in the desk first before moving around and checking the crates stacked neatly in the corner. All she found was that Fry kept immaculate books, and some new wigs. Not exactly fashionable, but certainly not a crime.

She sighed and exited the tent, looking around trying to decide what other tents she should check during her small amount of time. That was when she saw a flash of blonde hair to her left. Thankfully she was standing in the shadow of Mrs. Fry's tent so she didn't think the owner of the hair had noticed her.

Keeping low to the ground she followed after the flash, peaking around the corner in a manor that really wasn't as sneaky as she should be, but she was in a hurry, okay? She arrived just in time to see the blonde turn another corner, she followed at a distance until they were almost to the far side of the camp.

The way the blonde moved Peggy would be willing to bet her life the girl had good training. Just as she was running along another short lane she felt a heavy body slam into her from the right.

Not pausing to check who had slammed into her Peggy used the momentum of the fall to turn them so she landed on top. She heard her attacker hit hard and felt the air leave their body as she continued to roll away, putting as much distance between them as she could. After a few log rolls she paused and reached to her belt, grabbing at her sheath and pulling free one of her blades, ready to chuck it if need be.

XXX

At the big top Angie looked around for the Englishwoman. She was flushed with the joy of having just performed, but that warmth was failing in comparison to the cold worry that, while not entirely warranted, had set in when she realized she couldn't find Peggy.

Sure she had only known the woman for a day, but she had taken to the woman from the moment she looked up at her with her back on the ground surrounded by rowdy dogs. Plus it was odd, Peggy didn't seem the type to miss her cue, and that was only a few minutes away, she should be here.

She stalked in front of the performers entrance to the tent nervously, not paying attention to the other performers as they stared at her. In the big top she could hear the crowd cheering as they watched the act Colleen had managed to train a few of the dogs to do with Gloria. Thankfully the crowd seemed to like it so that bought Peggy a few more minutes due to the optional extension the act had for crowds that enjoyed it.

Just as the loud roar of the crowd that announced the end of the act went up, Peggy rushed into the light spilling out of the tent. She was covered in dust and her hair was a little out of place, a few pieces of straw sticking out it in the back.

Angie rushed up to her and, not at all angrily, no, that would be uncalled for after all, began to beat some of the dust off of the dark outfit the brunette wore, “Well gosh, English, you sure know how to leave a girl waiting till the last second!”

Peggy chuckled and blushed as Angie started to work on getting the straw out of her hair, the crowd was starting to quite down, they would have just about a minute until Howard called her out.

“I don't suppose there is any chance you could stand in for Jack tonight, is there?” Peggy asked, her eyes almost begging Angie not to say no.

Which of course the younger girl couldn't do. Didn't mean she wouldn't ask why, “And what's wrong with him?”

“That's why I'm late actually. Can't find him anywhere. Please, Angie. I'll owe you big time.”

Howard began his speech to introduce Peggy as she stared at Angie with big eyes. Angie nodded her head quickly and pushed her toward the tent, “Let's get on with it then.”

It wasn't until she actually in the bright light of the tent that she realized just what she had agreed to. She had just agreed to let Peggy throw knives. At her. At her body, her face. “I should have let you focus,” she muttered when Peggy gave her a quick smile.

Stage hands moved around them setting up while Peggy took center stage, a knife spinning through her hand, a knife that might be thrown at her face. Oh anywhere but the face, please.

She shrugged out of her coat, handing it off to a stage hand with an apologetic smile. She immediately regretted it. Standing in nothing but her sink tight sky blue and light orange jump suit was way less comfortable when she knew knives were going to be flying towards her person soon. Sure she trusted that Peggy would never throw if she wasn't 100% sure she wouldn't hurt the girl, but things happen and that coat was her last little bit of protection against the blades.

She relaxed a bit as she watched Peggy glide through the first part of her act with ease. Even managed a smile when she saw Peggy use her word again, she was pretty sure she hadn't heard the crowd suggest 'home' when she had asked for four letter words.

Unlike with Jack, Peggy came over to help set her up against the box. She pressed herself a little closer to the young blonde than was really necessary. “Relax. I've got this. Trust me,” she whispered in her ear.

While Angie wasn't sure she could ever be completely relaxed with projectiles hurdling through the air towards her body, Peggy's whisper did calm her down. She loosened up and didn't prep herself to run away into the night.

Seeing the confidence in the Englishwoman's eyes made it so she could even out her breathing, Peggy could do this. Still she couldn't help the gulp when the first blade hit the wood, thankfully she used the same pattern as she had before with Jack, so Angie knew what was coming.

Before she knew it all six blades were in the center of their targets and the apple Angie had almost forgotten was on her head, had gone up in a puff of stuffing. Somehow she had managed to survive what kind of felt like a really extreme trust exercise and a stress test all in one.

Peggy took her bows, pulling Angie up beside her and reminding her she was part of the act too with a grateful smile, the crowd roared in appreciation of the pair.

The older woman grabbed her hand and pulled her off stage, her eyes big again as she turned to look at the younger woman, “I am so sorry, Angie. That was way too much trust for me to ask of you this soon after meeting.”

It took a minute of staring with wide eyes but eventually Angie found her voice, “Are you kidding, English? That was awesome!”


	4. Bars and Stars

Peggy glanced at her phone, noting the time, 10:26 PM, before returning to keeping an eye on the door of the bar. They had been in the field for 2 days and were due for a meeting with Sousa, but she had them arrive at the bar early to scope it out.

Thompson slid into the other side of the booth, pushing a tumbler of scotch across the table, “No word?”

She shook her head and glanced at the scotch, “Really, Thompson? We're on the job.”

“Hence the ice,” he replied swirling the amber liquid in this glass a few times before taking a small sip. She rolled her eyes and returned to her watch.

Sousa finally walked through the door to be greeted with the sight of the two agents glaring at each other. Thompson had an empty rocks glass in front of him and Peggy clearly didn't approve. He couldn't say he did either, but this was Thompson's usual.

“It's only been a day and you guys already look like you want to kill each other,” he joked, slipping in next to Thompson. “Now how's the circus life?”

The pair finally broke their glare and looked to Sousa, “I know who it is.”

Both of the dark haired agents stared at the blond in disbelief. Now Thompson was good, but not even he was that good, “No way. No fuckin' way, Jack.”

Peggy wanted nothing more than to wipe that smarmy smirk off of his face. Never on the drive into town or since they had been sitting in the bar had he mentioned that he had even a lead, let alone knew who the culprit was. She knew he didn't think much of her, but she hadn't thought he would try to box her out of her own case.

“It's Stark. Check this out,” Thompson said, pulling out his phone. He flashed them the picture of the lock box he had found hidden amongst the mess on Stark's side of the tent.

Peggy stared him down, “A lock box? You're basing your lead on a lock box?”

“A lock box that was in a hidden compartment. Plus that guy gives me the creeps. Who wears a mustache these days?”

They really didn't have time for this, there was only so much time they could be away from the camp without it being suspicious. “I agree that we should keep an eye on Stark. In fact, Daniel, I'd appreciate a background check on him, but I don't think he's our guy.”

The pity mixed with cockiness in Thompson's eyes when he looked at her almost made her jump over the table, “Let the professionals do the big thinking, doll. Besides who do you think it is? That pretty blonde contortionist?”

She gripped the table in an attempt to feel grounded to something, anything to keep her from grabbing his obnoxiously coiffed head of hair and slamming his head into the table, “I do think it's a blonde, Thompson. Or do I have to remind you about last night?”

Daniel sat up in interest, “Last night?”

“I was checking out Mrs. Fry's tent while everyone was busy with the show-” Peggy started to explain.

“And it was nothing. Probably just someone forgot something in their tent and Bond over here went all stalker.”

Daniel held up his hand to stop Thompson, “Go on Pegs.”

Peggy started to recount the night, talking about how Mrs. Fry's tent had revealed nothing new about the circus, her following the mystery blonde through the twisting lanes of the camp, and reveling getting tackled to the ground.

_Rising slowly out of the dust with her knife in hand she kept her eyes on her target, the blonde flash long forgotten. In the dark all she could make out was that her attacker was definitely male. She inched closer, until she was able to nudge the man with her toe, he shuffled back at the contact._

_Peggy kept her stance wide, prepared for an attack. The man jumped out of the shadows, wrapping one of his arms around her waist the other going to the hand holding the knife, jerking it  away from his body. As they fell back to the ground he twisted her wrist, making her send the knife wildly into the dust kicked up around them. She bucked her hips and kicked her legs, trying to dislodge her attacker. Her knee collided with the side of his stomach, right in the kidney, causing his grip to loosen. She shoved him aside, her hands scrambling through dirt, looking for anything she could use as a weapon._

_Flipping to her stomach, trying to put distance between them, her hand curled around a rock just bigger than her fist. She gripped it tight and rose back up into a fight stance, her hand ready to knock the man in the head._

_This time he took a more cautious approach, taking small steps forward, Peggy inched back towards more light._

_“Marge?” the man asked._

_Peggy fell out of the fight stance and almost rolled her eyes in disgust, “That's the second time in 24 hours I've had to put you on your arse, Thompson. Why the bloody hell did you tackle me?”_

_Thompson walked the rest of the way into the light, rubbing the back of his head, “You got in my way. I was following someone. A blonde. Didn't get a good look before you were suddenly there.”_

_This time Peggy did roll her eyes, as if this was her fault. “I was following a blonde too. Unfortunately, I think they got away.”_

_Thompson turned to look the direction the blonde had gone, “I'll go ahead and keep looking, you get back to the tent, check and see if you notice anyone missing.”_

“And so I went back while Thompson looked for the blonde. I didn't notice anyone missing, but I also had to go straight in and do my act so anyone could have returned while I was performing.”

Throughout the story, Sousa's face had gone from serious, to trying not to laugh as he side glanced at Thompson. He clapped a hand onto the blonds shoulder, his smile teasing, and asked, “Well did the great Jack Thompson find anyone?”

Jack picked up his glass and tried to get that last little drop of it out as he gave a shake of his head. “Whoever it was they were gone. I really don't think it matters though, Stark is our guy.”

“Do you have anything besides the hidden box?” Sousa asked.

“Just the feeling in my gut.”

Peggy scoffed and looked towards Daniel to see if he was buying it. From the look on his face he seemed to be. “I think we can all agree that a locked box and a _feeling_ are not a good enough reason to arrest someone.”

Thompson settled back into the corner of the booth and draping his right arm across the back of the seat. “So what leads do you have, then? All I've seen you do is hang out with that contortionist,” he said with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

Feeling the heat rising in her cheeks, Peggy grabbed her scotch and drained it in one go. She was so  tired of his attitude, he had been this way since her first day at the New York office.

She had joined the SSR after a successful few years with the British Army. They had recruited her after just one mission, impressed at the way she handled her troops while rescuing one of their operatives from a hidden facility on an unmapped island in the Atlantic.

After that she had been with them for four years as a field operative, going all over the world stopping attacks before the public even knew about them. Then Steve, her partner, had died and she got reckless. It was only after she had received two shots to the shoulder that they had decided to bench her, to give her time to grieve, or so they had said. She arrived in New York and expected some sort of respect for her work, and instead found none of them cared. To them, she was just a woman whose emotions had caused a problem in the field, which obviously meant she was only good for paperwork.

Now here she was, a year later, and only just getting to go back into the field, despite being cleared by a psychiatrist eight months ago. She was used to having her opinion actually meaning something to her partner, but Thompson couldn't see past his misogyny. She knew she couldn't hope to find another Steve Rogers, but she really didn't think she was asking to much by wanting some respect.

“As a matter of fact, Thompson, no. To me there is no clear stand out. Like I said before, we should do a background check on Stark, keep an eye on him, but not discount anyone else in camp.”

Sousa nodded his head in agreement and looked to the blond man, “Sorry, Jack she's got a point. A feeling doesn't get me a warrant. You two head back in, I'll text you when I have the background check on Stark done.”

XXX

The ride back to the camp was quiet, Thompson pouting while he drove and Peggy thinking through a plan of attack. She had a basic understanding of almost all the women in the camp at this point, some she was able to for sure mark off her list of suspects, but the rest she had no idea.

Of the people still on the list, she had grown closest the Angie. She was almost certain the New Yorker wasn't the mastermind behind the weapons ring, but she was probably her best route to finding out who was. No one seemed to know the camp quite like she did, after all. Peggy couldn't help but feel a little bad about using Angie like that though. She knew it was the best way to figure it all out, even the best way to keep the girl safe, but it felt wrong. Befriending someone purely with the purpose of using their knowledge, knowing that you would be leaving as soon as you were done with them, there was just something morally repugnant about it.

With a sigh, she stepped out of the car and gave a nod to Thompson before heading towards the tent she shared with Colleen. She stared intently at the ground, her guard down, as she walked through the shadowy corridors, not paying much mind to the sounds of the sleeping performers around her. Turning a corner, she bumped into a small, solid body, and automatically grabbed the persons shoulders, steadying them both.

Looking up, with an apology on her tongue, she was met with the blue eyes of her new friend, but now found herself wondering how she had ever thought of Angie's eyes as merely blue. Her pupils were ringed in a golden green that faded out into the blue that ran around her iris. No, blue certainly did not describe the woman's eyes.

“We gotta quit meeting like this, English!” Angie joked, her smile bright and inviting.

Noticing her hands were still firmly on Angie's shoulders, Peggy quickly dropped her arms to her sides and gave the woman a tight smile. Her thoughts were still firmly in the middle of the argument about if getting close to this woman was the most moral route she could take to finding the weapons ring. “At least no one ended up on their back this time,” she replied with a smile.

Angie laughed nervously, looking towards the ground, “Yup. Both still standing. On our feet. Definitely not on our backs.” She shuffled her feet before looking back up at Peggy, “So what are you doing up this late?”

Lifting her chin high Peggy looked up at the stars and improvised a cover, “Oh, you know. Just a bit of star gazing.”

Angie looked up to the sky her eyes shone, and her smile big, “Oh, I get that. Didn't get to see the stars much as a kid. Growing up in the city and all. Bensonhurst definitely doesn't give you a view of a sky this nice.”

They stood looking up at the sky stretching wide above them. Peggy wished she knew more constellations, not something she had ever bothered learning, not when there were other things more crucial to her survival to learn.

The contortionist grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together, and started pulling her towards the edge of camp to a wide open field. A small voice in the back of Peggy's head said to stop, that allowing the girl to isolate them from the rest of the group was a warning sign, but ultimately she ignored it, letting the young girl pull her to the field. She watched Angie's curls bounce in her excitement, and the big smile she gave over her shoulder as they neared the edge of camp was infectious.

Angie didn't stop until they were well into the field, the sounds of the half asleep camp just a distant hum to the crickets. She looked back to the sky, still holding Peggy's hand and pointed up to the sky, “Orion's belt is really clear tonight.”

Trying to follow Angie's finger, Peggy moved closer the blonde, forgetting about their linked hands. “Um... And which one is that again?”

Shifting even closer so that their sides were pressed together, Angie pointed out each star, talking Peggy though it and making sure she could see each one before moving onto the next, “Not big on astronomy then, huh?”

Still looking up at the sky, Peggy shook her head no, “Never really had the time to learn much besides the basics.”

“I only really got to see the stars on the occasional trip out of the city, so I started going to the library. They had this big book on all you possibly want to know about stars. I ate it up. Naturally,when I first joined up with this lot, I'd lay outside for hours just looking up at the sky, wondering what's goin' on out there.”

Halfway through her speech, Peggy had turned look at the girl on her right. The look of wonder on the other girls face was astounding. Peggy couldn't remember the last time she had been in that kind of awe, like nothing in the world really mattered beside that moment in time. Years, if she had to guess.

She plopped down to the ground, pulling the other girl with her, “Tell me more.”

Somewhere along the way, she had forgotten about her internal struggle of whether getting close to Angie was a good idea or not. She wasn't doing this for the case anymore, but she tried not to think about that. Having just one moment of actual connection with a person wasn't something she should be ashamed of, right? Particularly after having to deal with Thompson all night.

Angie laughed as she settled into the tall grass, “What about, English? My starless childhood or the stars?”

“Either. Both.”

The blonde looked back up at the sky, “When I first decided I wanted to be a performer, an actress on Broadway to be exact, I used to joke that if I couldn't see the stars then I'd become one myself. Not really that clever thinkin' back on it, but I was only 10.”

Peggy laughed, which brought a pink blush to the other girl's cheeks. They sat in silence for a moment before Peggy pointed east, “That's the north star. I think.”

Shaking her head no with a small laugh Angie brought her free hand up and pushed the brunettes arm until it was pointing north and then pushed it up a bit, “ _That's_ the north star.”

“Oh. I should probably know that.”

It wasn't until she felt Angie give her hand a squeeze that she even remembered they were still holding hands, but once she was aware of it she suddenly couldn't forget again. In all the books she had read they always described hand holding as warm, but to Peggy it didn't feel like the right word. No her hand felt cool, like the feeling of putting a balm on a burn.

They settled into a comfortable silence, Angie occasionally pointing out a constellation and leaning in close to Peggy to point out the stars for her, ever patient as she taught the Englishwoman. Peggy listening intently and asking questions, the ideal student.

It wasn't until the blonde let out a long yawn that Peggy suggested they head back to camp. She regretfully dropped the younger woman's hand, and rose to her feet, before offering her hand back to Angie to help her up.

Their walk back to their tents took much longer, the pair walking slowly in silence. They got to Peggy's tent first.

“Thank you for tonight, Angie, I really needed this,” she said. She hadn't realized just how much Thompson had upset her until she had stepped away from it and spent sometime with someone who treated her decently. She knew getting this close could end badly, but in this moment she really couldn't care less if she tried.

Angie gave her a big smile and squeezed her hand again, “Anytime, English. Sleep well.”

The young girl leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before dropping her hand and walking away quickly.

Peggy reached up and put her hand to the tingling spot and watched Angie until she turned a corner. Once she was out of view she slipped into her own tent, glad to see that Colleen was still out, probably with the animals.

She fell into her cot and stared up at the cloth ceiling, a small smile on her face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of fluff now, y'all best know what that means ;)


	5. Hard Choices and BCG's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright I know this one took awhile... Family weekend turned into a family week, which for me means a lot of anxiety. Not the most productive mood for me. But I should be back to once a week now.

When she woke the next morning Peggy had a smile on her face. She snuggled deeper into her blanket and pillow, letting herself revel in the warmth for longer than she normally would, feeling perfectly content.

Then the night before came crashing back in full reality. She could live with Thompson being an ass, but Peggy couldn't exactly forgive herself for how she was treating Angie. The contortionist deserved better. She deserved better. Better then being lead on under the false pretenses that Peggy could be anything more than a temporary friend. The New Yorker deserved someone who wouldn't be leaving as soon as they got what they came for.

That was something Peggy could never give her. She would always be someone who put Angie at risk, always someone who put her own interests first.

She allowed herself just a moment to think that maybe she could do that for Angie. Perhaps she could stay in touch somehow, be the friend that she deserved. Maybe Angie could leave with her, come back to New York. She could pursue her Broadway dreams while Peggy saved the world. They could be happy. She knew they could easily fall into a routine. Someone she could home to, someone to patch up her wounds that didn't require a hospital.  

The brunette shook her head and swung her legs to the side of her bed, sitting up. She could never ask Angie to leave behind her circus family. The young girl was happy here, and it would be selfish of her to ask her to leave that. She had only known the girl for two days, that wasn't enough of a foundation to even permit her to think such things.

No, it was best to start distancing herself now, before either of them got in too deep. She could figure out the weapons smuggling ring, without Angie, and then they could both go on with their lives. That was the only acceptable solution to this. She had no room in her life for any sort of relationships outside of work. She needed to be selfless.

Peggy rushed through her morning workout routine, pushing her body harder than normal. Sweat dripped down her temples and back as she stretched out her aching muscles. Behind her she heard the sound of soft footsteps, and tensed. Her heartbeat still beating fast in her chest.

Spinning on her right heel, she kept her body ready to react quickly, but managed not to look to threatening. The image of the flash of blonde forefront in her mind.

“Hey there, English,” Angie said in a small voice, a blush across her cheeks as she looked pointedly at the ground. “Sleep well?”

Peggy could feel her resolve crumbling already, just from one look at the girl. The Italian just had a way of making everyone around her feel comfortable, welcome. She could feel the balm of Angie cooling her fire even as they stood just feet apart.

She took a quick breath before responding,, “Quite. I'll see you in a bit at breakfast prep.”

She did her best to keep her voice devoid of any warmth she wanted to show the girl, to keep her face in a neutral position, despite the smile she could feel wanting to break through. Cutting her off now would be easier, quick and mostly painless.

Without waiting for a response she walked quickly past the girl, not missing the confused expression on the younger girl’s face. Her fists gripped tight as she forced herself to keep walking. It was for the best.

XXX

As she got the coffee ready for the breakfast crew, Angie wondered about the almost cold way Peggy had treated her. The British woman had looked delectable in a tight white tee-shirt and blue running shorts, though Angie thought she looked better in the red shirt. The way she had talked, in a clipped tone, and then just stalked off with clenched fists, that wasn't the English she thought she was getting to know.

She was probably just still waking up. Or maybe it was the cheek kiss. She had probably crossed some sort of line with that. With the way Peggy had been looking at her under the stars, she had thought she had a pretty good idea about what the woman wanted, but she must have misread the situation. Angie figured she'd just have to do her best to make Peggy see they could be friends, without worries of Angie coming on to her. She had been friends with her crushes in the past, she could do it again.

Falling into the routine of handing out coffee to the breakfast crew, Angie was able to distract herself from her thoughts of Peggy for a few minutes. The British woman showed up last again and Angie had a feeling this was on purpose, to avoid having to actually cook.

Putting on her brightest, friendliest, smile, she offered Peggy her cup of coffee. Red lips pursed for a moment before she accepted the mug with a small nod of acknowledgment.

“Fruit again?”

There was the cold tone again. Oh boy, she had really mucked this up. “Yeah. You and Gloria make a swell team.”

She was off without another word.

Moving from station to station, Angie couldn't help her wandering eye. Peggy's cold shoulder seemed to only be directed at her. She was laughing freely at Gloria, as she stuck an orange peel in her mouth, over her teeth, and crossed her eyes. Looking up with the smile still on her face, Peggy noticed her staring, the smile turned more polite, and there was that damn nod of the head again, before she quickly looked away.

She felt like a fool for thinking Peggy might swing her way.

XXX

Breakfast prep had been hard. Gloria had been enjoyable, and cutting fruit wasn't to bad, but watching Angie, that was something else. Peggy could tell Angie knew she was shutting her out.

Piling her plate high, she took a seat with the clowns, because she hadn't gotten to know them as well as she would like. And since it put her on the other side of the dining area from Angie, she was able to put her back to the girl, but not without seeing the confusion on her face.

Across from her was Dottie, the tall one that seemed rather daft. Her plate looked much like Peggy's, lots of carbs and protein, little sugar. A plate like that would keep her going through the day, and then some. It was the plate of someone who didn't always know where their next meal was coming from.

Peggy took note of this, storing it for further evaluation later.

“Good morning, Dottie. Sleep well?”

The tall blonde turned her attention to the Englishwoman with a large smile, “Did I ever! The crickets never fail to put me out like a light!”

She couldn't help but chuckle at the wide eyed clown, “Yes, I find them quite soothing myself.”

She watched as Dottie carefully tore a roll apart, setting aside half and biting without reserve into the other half. Not the most normal way to eat, but not necessarily suspicious either. Just another small fact to tuck away for further evaluation.

Colleen slipped into the seat beside her, “Hey there roomie! You were already asleep by time I got back last night. Snoring like a chainsaw!”

Peggy coughed around the bite of strawberry she had just taken, sputtering out, “I do not snore!”

The vet laughed and gave her a wink, “Sure.”

“The secretive Peggy snores? Well, color me shocked!” Dottie added. Her ever present large smile grew just a smidgen larger, and a feral glint appeared in her eye. It could be read as just someone who got some prime dirt on a friend, or it could be read as far deadlier. Just another piece of info to go over later, when she wasn't defending her sleeping habits.

XXX

“Gloria,” Angie whined as she flopped onto her cot belly first, hiding her face in her arms, “I can't believe I fucked it up this bad. She's only on her third day here and she already hates me.”

With a roll of her eyes at the over dramatic woman, Gloria replied, “She so does not hate you. You should have seen the way she kept looking at you during prep. She almost looked more like a lost puppy than you did. Or maybe a lost kitten, I don’t know.”

Sighing, Angie turned her head to the side and looked towards her roommate, “Yeah?”

Sitting cross legged on her own cot, Gloria gave her a small, encouraging smile, “Yeah. She looked at you almost as much as you were looking at her. Though she was far more discrete about it. I'm sure everyone in camp knows how you feel by now.”

“Ugh,” Angie sighed as she buried her face in her pillow. The brunette was sending some seriously messed up signals. First she flirts with her from their very first meeting. Then she holds her freaking hand all night while star gazing, come on it really doesn't get more romantic than that! She accepts her kiss to the cheek. Now she's giving her the cold shoulder, but still looking at her a lot. What the hell was this all supposed to mean?

She heard the pillow whoosh through the air before she felt it land on her head, but she didn't care enough to try and deflect it. Gloria may not spend a lot of time with the circus, but they had developed a bond that was a lot like the connection she had with her older sister.

Except she was usually the older sister in this pairing. The one talking Gloria through college crushes and through her questioning sexuality. Teasing her about her obvious crush on Carol.

“Stop moping around, Ang. Either move on, or talk to her.”

“Ugh,” she repeated. It just wasn't that simple. Sure she had only known the woman for less than three days, but the type of connection they had last night was not something you just let go without a fight. Her little gay heart might not know a lot about relationships, but it did know that. “Fiiiiiiiine. I'll go talk to her. Later. Tomorrow. Maybe next week.”

She heard the creak of Gloria's cot and then the pillow was lifted off her head, just to hit it again, much harder. “Now.”

The pillow hit her two more times before she finally turned over and caught it before it could hit her face, “I'm going! I'm going! Sheesh.”

Gloria gave her a victorious smile and a thumbs up before Angie ducked out of their tent.

She walked slowly through the camp, turning back towards her own tent twice, before finally arriving in front of the tent Peggy and Colleen shared. She found herself hoping it would be Colleen she found inside, the vet was far more amicable to listening to her whine than Gloria was. Colleen would just let her vent and pat her back occasionally. None of this 'talk to her' crap would even be suggested, though maybe that was why she had gone to Gloria instead of Colleen. She knew she needed to talk to Peggy, even if she didn't really want to.

Of course it couldn't so simple as to only find Colleen, and just as she was getting ready to poke her head through the flap Peggy did the same. Their heads hit hard and Angie saw stars for a moment and felt strong, warm hands grip her upper arms, before she registered the wide eyed brunette in front of her.

“Angie. What are you doing here?"

“Well I sure as hell wasn't looking for a concussion, English,” she bit out bitterly. She hadn't wanted to admit how grumpy Peggy's behavior this morning had made her, but damn it, she was grumpy. Her less than bubbly exchange had lead to the older woman removing her hands quickly and shoving them into the pockets of her faded blue jeans.

The Englishwoman quirked an eyebrow and looked to her to continue on to why she was actually there, “I was lookin' for you. Can we talk?”

Angie couldn't help but notice the small flicker of fear in the older woman's eyes, before it was carefully hidden behind a mask of cool indifference. The fear confused her, this was a woman who threw knives for a living, why would talking to Angie scare her?

“I'm afraid I can't, Angie. Perhaps another time?” and then she was gone, walking away down the aisle of tents, towards the unmarried men's side of camp. Her walk was crisp, professional even.

Angie stood there with her mouth open for longer than she was proud of, not even watching the sway of the other woman's hips, before she took off after Peggy.

“Nuh uh, English. You ain't gettin' away that easy.”

She watched as Peggy sighed and put on a polite smile, but it was the wrong smile. It wasn't the easy, warm smile she had given the night before. No this smile was one that had been worked on to appease people who didn't know any better, but Angie did know better. It hurt to see the fake smile on her face. It hurt to see that fake smile directed at her.  

“What can I help you with?”

Angie hadn't been expecting that. She hadn't any idea what she even wanted to say to the woman, just that something needed to be said, so she decided to wing it, “I had fun last night. I almost forgot how much I love looking at the stars.”

A flash of the warm smile came through for just a moment, before it was carefully schooled away again, “I assure you the feeling is mutual. I hope you continue to look at them.”

You. She had said you. Not we. Not us. You. Angie felt her heart fall to her feet. Gloria had been wrong, there was nothing here.

“I will, English,” she said as if it were a promise, “I'll let you get back to whatever it is you're doing.”

Peggy gave her a small wave as she walked off. Angie felt rooted to the spot.  

XXX

As she walked through the almost maze like set up of the tents Peggy felt horrible. She had seen the way the girls face dropped, had seen the hope in her eyes die. It had been necessary to do it now though, she would be safer from further heartbreak.

Taking a deep breath she pushed into Thompson's tent, relieved to find only the blond man in. She liked Howard, to a point, but he would be a problem to her plan to stop in and then get out quickly.

“I got the message from Sousa that the background check on Stark is in.”

The blond looked up from the file in question and snapped it shut, “Here it is.” He raised the folder with a small flourish.

She grabbed the green folder and flipped through it. Everything seemed to be as he had said. His parents had worked for this same circus, he had grown up here. He'd spent a few years in college studying mechanical engineering, before dropping out to come back. There was nothing here that pointed towards him having any sort of criminal activity under his belt. It seemed his biggest fault was his overly flirtatious attitude.

“Before you say it, Carter, I already know there's nothing there. Doesn't mean I'm wrong. There is something fishy about that guy.”

Peggy was sure that her eyes would fall out eventually from all the eye rolling she did around this pompous prat, but that didn't stop her from rolling them yet again. “How many times do I have to say it, a gut feeling doesn't get us a warrant. Something we need in order to do anything about this 'fishy' guy.”

Thompson ran a hand through his, for once, loose blond hair, “Well do you have any other ideas?”

Thinking back on that morning Peggy knew she had an inkling, but it wasn't any better than Thompson's gut feeling at the moment. At least her guess was blonde, unlike his, which could mean she was the blonde they had seen sneaking through camp. “I've got an idea or two, but I'd like to investigate a bit more before I bring them up. I'll keep you posted.”

“Yeah alright, Carter,” Thompson replied, his voice a little less snide than usual. He sounded tired, like he was over this case already. Peggy supposed that when you get a new case every time you finish one eventually some cases would start to seem kind of boring.

For just a moment she felt a little sorry for him, he must be pretty tired.

That quickly faded when he looked up at her and asked in a snobby voice, “Ya done? I need a nap.”

Peggy handed back the file and headed back to her tent, thinking though her breakfast with Dottie and Colleen.

Dottie was certainly an odd one. Nothing she had done was necessarily a clue to some devious plot, but  it still rubbed her wrong. Taking out her phone she tapped out a quick message to Sousa, 'I need a BGC. Dottie Underwood.'

She walked past a few more tents before she felt her phone vibrate in response, 'BGC?'

'Background check.'

'Ah. Gotcha. On it.'

It wasn't much to go on, but if she was ever going to get Thompson to consider anyone besides Stark, she needed to pull out all the stops.

She could do this without help from Angie. She had to do this without help from Angie. It was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do, damn it.


	6. Diaries and Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! Faster than a week!

The next few days go by quickly for Peggy. She does her morning workouts, avoids Angie, talks to everyone she can, and runs through all she learns each night.

Although avoiding Angie could be easier. She had thought the young woman had given up after they had, literally, butted heads outside her tent. Instead what she found was that the young woman seemed hellbent on becoming her friend. She offered to help Peggy with her act, was always walking up on her while she stretched out in the mornings, and spent more time on the morning fruit cutting station than was even remotely close to necessary.

Peggy politely turned her down each time she offered help, but the woman seemed to look a little more hurt, and yet a little more determined with every rebuff.

She was walking towards the camp showers at the end of their first full week with the camp when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Shifting her shower bag to her left hand, she pulled the phone out of the pocket on her dress and swiped the screen to see the message from Sousa.

'source gave more intel. meet at bar in 2hrs'

With a sigh she turned around from the much looked forward to shower, and headed towards Thompson's tent.

Over the past few days she had been slowly building her case on Dottie, but it wasn't ready yet. She had nothing concrete. Just some weird eating habits, and a coded diary. That diary was the key. She knew it.

She had found the diary 2 days before and had snapped a few pics of the first few pages before returning it to its spot.

_Just like during their first show, Peggy was using the quiet of the empty camp to go through tents. Her first stop: Dottie._

_Dottie shared a tent with Sarah, the mute clown. Not sure which side was whose Peggy started with the right side. Nothing seemed to point at who at the habitant was until she found a shoe box under the bed. Inside were a few photos of what looked like a young Sarah._

_She went through box quickly but found nothing of importance. Off in the distance, towards the slight smell of popcorn and too many people, she could hear the crowd go wild, Angie was in the middle of her act. That gave her about ten minutes to get back._

_Throwing herself into the other side of the tent, she discovered nothing until she reached the very back of the bed. There she found a small lock box hidden away in a larger cardboard box. She didn't have the time to pick the lock, so she went though the rest of the larger box. Hidden underneath the random junk in the box, was a small, unadorned, black diary._

_Feeling a bit more like a nosy mother than a secret agent, Peggy flipped it open. Inside she didn't find words, or even numbers. She found random symbols, drawn at what seemed to be random intervals on the pages. She had done quite a bit of work as a code breaker, but had never seen anything quite like this. She snapped a few pics really quick with her phone, and listened for the crowd._

_It sounded like Angie was finishing up, meaning Gloria and her dogs were about to go on. That gave her 6 minutes to pack this box up and get back to do her show._

Snapping out of her memory, Peggy pushed into Thompson's tent. The camp was winding down after a good show, so she wasn't surprised to see Stark wasn't in yet. Probably off with some summer stock girl.

She found Thompson pulling the leg of his pants down over an ankle holster, “Get the text, Carter?”

“Yes. Meet you at the car in an hour?” She didn't want to have to spend more time with the blond than was strictly necessary. Her mental health required it.

He shrugged into a light coat, “Sounds good.”

“Is the mission interrupting your social plans for the night, Agent Thompson?” she asked, watching him touch up the coif of his hair in a small hand mirror.

After he smoothed the hair into place, he looked up at her though the mirror, “I'm meeting up with Stark for a minute before we leave. Maybe he'll let more drop once he has a drink or two in him.”

That got Peggy thinking, perhaps she could do the same with Dottie. If she was what she claimed to be, Peggy doubted she could hold her alcohol. If she was of a more nefarious nature then she wouldn't get drunk very fast, most likely. “Do you happen to know who else will be there?”

“The whole camp I expect. Including that contortionist you're hot on.”

“I am not- I don't know what you're talking about. I'll see you in an hour. Don't be late.”

XXX

“Come on, Ang! You have to come!” Gloria said, as she touched up her make up in a small mirror, “Fry hardly ever lets us party, you can't skip out!”

Pulling a brush through her hair, Angie watched the younger girl as she fussed over the point of her winged eyeliner, “So that I can watch you stare at Carol? No, thanks.”

Normally Angie was all over these parties, even helped plan them, but this one she wasn't feeling. It wasn't even just that Peggy had been avoiding her since that night under the stars, okay maybe that was most of it, but not all of it. Her mother wanted her to quit the circus, to come home and help out with the restaurant her uncle owned.

She loved her mother, loved her blood family, but this circus had become her family too. How was she supposed to choose between them?

“Pleeeeeeease,” Gloria drew out.

Sighing, Angie turned to put her brush down on the small table at the foot of her bed. She grabbed a hair tie and made a point of taking a long time to pull her hair back, before turning to look at her roommate, “Fine. But the minute you run off to spend time with Carol, I'm out.”

Gloria jumped up and wrapped her arms around Angie's neck, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Wrapping the girl up in a tight hug, she picked her and and spun her around, listening to the younger girl giggle, “Your right eye is a little higher than your left.”

Breaking out of the hug Gloria quickly grabbed her mirror, checking her eyeliner, “It is not!”

XXX

After dropping off her shower things, Peggy made her way towards the dinning area, where there seemed to be a large crowd gathered.

Upon her arrival, she had a drink immediately shoved into her hand by an unidentified person, and found herself quickly in the middle of the the bouncing crowd. Music came from the opposite side of where the kitchen was located, a makeshift stage was holding a few of the musically talented carnies. Carol was strumming away on a beat up acoustic guitar, Sarah was blowing into a harmonica, and Howard was attempting to sing. If Peggy had to guess he was only up there due to his level of intoxication, far higher than it should be this early into the night.

Colleen grabbed her hand and pulled her to the edge of the camp, and yelled above the sound, “You looked a little shell shocked!”

Giving her a grateful smile and a nod, Peggy shouted, “Not really my usual scene!”

The vet smiled knowingly and glanced around the rapidly growing party. Peggy followed her glance and saw Angie standing with Gloria, who was staring up at the stage with a big smile. Angie didn't seem quite as happy. Their eyes met and Angie gave her her usual big smile, Peggy gave a small one of her own in return.

She watched as Angie tapped Gloria's arm and whispered something in her ear, before the contortionist started making her way through the crowd. Peggy felt her eyes widen in fear as she tired to slow her heart down. The dark blonde curls of the woman she had spent the last five days avoiding bounced in the ponytail they had been restricted to for the night. She was wearing a light blue linen dress that fell just above her knees, and Peggy could feel her resolve melting. That light blue would look great next to the plum dress she was wearing, not that Peggy would ever admit to thinking about how good they would look together.

Angie stopped in front of her, with shoulders squared and a determined glint in her eye, “Hey there, English.”

Peggy looked for Colleen, hoping that the vet would be able to save her, but she had slipped away while the agent had watched Angie cross the dance floor. “Hi. Angie, how are you?”

She practically flinched at how awkward she sounded.

The contortionist gave her a small smile, “I've been better.”

They stood in awkward silence. Peggy looked over the crowed, trying to distract herself from the woman. She could see Dottie sitting off to the side, talking quietly to Colleen. They laughed and Colleen made her way off to grab a new drink, while Dottie looked up and caught her staring. They both gave each other big smiles, before Angie spoke up, “Wanna dance, English?”

Breaking her eye contact with Dottie she stuttered out, “I-I um really shouldn't.”

“Nonsense. Come on, English, just one dance.”

Angie really could be quite persistent, Peggy could felt their hands linking together as Angie pulled her out towards the crowd, “Really, Angie. I shouldn't.”

With a huff Angie stopped and looked towards her with her hands on her hips, “What is it? We were getting on just fine and now you keep pushing me away.”

Peggy couldn't meet her eye, “I'm afraid I wouldn't make a very good friend, Angie. I'm sorry.” She turned to walk away, but felt a small hand slip into hers, pulling her back.

“Why don't you let me make that decision, Pegs?”

With a gulp she looked back at Angie. One dance. She could do that. “One dance.”

You could have powered all of New York state with the smile that Angie gave her, and maybe some of New Jersey as well!

Angie pulled her to the edge of the crowd just as a slow song started, “You okay with slow, English?”

Peggy just nodded and placed a hand on Angie's waist, the other meeting Angie's at shoulder height. Angie settled her other hand on Peggy's shoulder and they settled into an easy box step.

It didn't take long for Angie to start spinning them in more complex patterns. Peggy did her best to keep a clear head, but she could feel every inch of the girl as she sharply changed their direction. In an effort to get the smell of daisies and sage out of her nose, Peggy dropped her hand on Angie's waist and gave her a quick spin. Which was a huge mistake, because as great as she smelled, her laugh was even better.

She wasn't even paying attention to the music anymore, her mind was full of Angie. Her smile, her laugh, her smell, the way her small frame fit so easily against her own larger body. When the tempo of the bodies around them became faster they naturally transitioned, still gripping each other tight. Hips swayed together, arms wrapped around bodies, breath mingling.

Angie guided her though the dance floor with practiced easy, changing their speed with each song that went by. They got a little closer with each song, until they were pressed tight together, eyes closed, swaying slightly to the quiet sound of just an acoustic guitar and a fiddle. Angie had her arms tight around Peggy's neck, who had her arms wrapped around the smaller woman's waist. The blonde’s head rested right over her heart, Peggy's darker curls falling in stark contrast from where she rested her head against the younger girl's.

And then it was all gone. With just a tap to the shoulder, Thompson pulled her out of the small world that was just her and Angie, and back into the real world. The world where dancing with this woman was going to send the wrong message.

Pulling away quickly, Peggy cleared her throat. “Thank you for the dance, Angie. I really must be going though.”

XXX

Angie was feeling an extreme case of emotional whiplash. One second she was spinning around the dance floor with Peggy, who was a fantastic dancer, and the next she was standing with empty arms as she marched off with her cousin, without an explanation.

Deciding to go on with the good mood she tried not to wonder about Peggy's abrupt departure. She found Gloria and pushed her towards Carol, “I danced with Peggy, now you dance with Carol.”

She watched as Gloria and Carol hit the dance floor before grabbing a drink for herself.

Peggy had danced with her. Like really danced with her. She wasn't even sure how long they had been out there, at least a half hour she guessed. When they were able to close out the rest of the world things just seemed to come easy, Angie had even forgotten about her uncle's restaurant for awhile. It was the moment the outside world decided to butt it's ugly head in that Peggy began to pull back. For the life of her her she couldn't figure out why. The Englishwoman seemed to be interested in her.

Deciding not to spoil her evening Angie found herself a new dance partner in the form of Jarvis, or Mr. Fancy as she liked to call him. He wasn't as loose with his movements as Peggy, but at least he kept his hands at a respectable height, unlike his friend Howard.

XXX

They pulled up to the bar with just a few minutes to spare. Thompson had spend a fair amount of the ride teasing Peggy over getting distracted from their meeting. She tried to play it off as gathering intel, but couldn't come up with a believable piece of info when questioned about why she had spent over half an hour on the dance floor with someone who wasn't even a suspect.

Peggy pushed out of the car and walked into the bar without waiting on the pompous prick that was her partner. She quickly spotted Sousa in the corner and made her way over, slipping into the side of the booth across from him. Thompson joined Sousa in his side of the booth, and threw and arm across the back of the seat, “So what's this urgent intel?”

She settled into her seat and looked expectantly at Sousa. His curls were hanging lose and limp, he had dark rings around his eyes, and his clothing was wrinkled. It was obvious he had been working long hours, making sure they were safe inside the circus, and gathering what information he could from the criminal network in the area.

Running a hand through his unkempt hair, Sousa sighed, “It looks like there is a shipment coming in soon. My source wasn't entirely sure when, but within the next few days, before you pack up to move on to your next town.”

“Do we know what's coming in?” Thompson asked.

The dark haired man shook his head and settled more into the booth. Peggy could practically feel the exhaustion radiating off of him.

“We know it's big. Possibly Russian, so I'd expect at the very least AK-47's.”

They sat in silence as the two field agents digested the information. A large shipment of illegal Russian guns was never a good thing, it pointed towards possible gang wars, which were always bloody and hurt the community.

Nothing in camp had pointed towards anyone having any affiliation with the Russians. Peggy was certain the best clue they had were the pictures she had taken of Dottie's diary. She pulled out her phone and opened up to the first page of the diary, before sliding the phone across to Sousa, “I found this hidden in the tent of the woman I suspect. I'm not sure what the code is yet, but I'm working on it.”

Sousa flipped through the first few pages worth of the diary before pulling out his own phone and transferring the files between the phones, “I'll pass it on to the code breakers back in New York, see what they come up with. I'll keep you posted.”

Thompson grabbed her phone and turned it all around, looking at the pictures from several angles before shrugging and handing the phone back to Peggy, “Code breaking isn't my thing. I still say Stark is involved in this. Once he got drunk tonight, I managed to get a few answers out of him. He claims that he 'can hook a man like me up with some prime work.' I couldn't get him to focus enough to find out what he meant, but I'll approach him tomorrow, see what he had in mind.”

Even Peggy had to admit something like that was a bit on the suspicious side, even more so than a diary that may or may not be full of a code. Something about it didn't feel right though. Sure Howard was a right prat, but he didn't feel like a criminal mastermind. Though she knew better than to underestimate someone.

They sat around the table, throwing out theories and discussing strategies for intercepting the weapons shipment. Thompson managed to keep professional though the discussion, and even seemed impressed at the plan Peggy suggested if Stark did end up being their perp. They certainly wouldn't become best friends anytime soon, but they were at least able to keep civil.

About an hour into their discussion Sousa had leaned back into his seat, his eyes fluttering shut not long after. They let him sleep, lowering their discussion to a murmur as the agent slept. It wasn't until he fell to the side, right into Thompson, that the blond man decided they should wake him and head out. It took everything in her not to tease him about the light pink blush spreading across his cheeks, and even more not to tease Daniel for the sleepy way he hid his face in Thompson's shoulder when they tried to wake him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if people want to follow me on tumblr, or send me prompts, lifebackstageright is where y'all can find me.


End file.
